Rock n' roll kids from all over Europe to converge on Navan for special concert

A group of older music fans will take part in a unique project in Navan in early October in which they will "relive their musical youth".

The event, which will see wee rock and roll kids of yesteryear from Northern Ireland, France, Spain, Germany, Slovenia and Italy coming together from 3rd to 7th October, will culminate in a concert on Thursday 6th October in Swan Lane.

The project is organised by The Rural Hub, a community education provider based in Virginia,

Sarah Keegan the Hub's Erasmus + manager explains that the project is called 'Vinyl Warriors - Rediscovering Your Musical Youth'.

“It aims to address the topics of active ageing and the digital divide among older populations, by supporting older people to develop their digital skills through music technology.

“We are working with six other organisations from Northern Ireland, France, Spain, Germany, Slovenia and Italy, and we have each set up a band composed entirely of older people,” she says.

“We are hosting 50 of these older people in Navan for a week in October, and on Thursday, 6th October, we are putting on a final performance for the bands from around Europe.

“They will each take to the stage in Swan Lane Music venue and perform two songs in front of a crowd. We are inviting other active ageing organisations to attend this event so that they can see how music can help to tackle isolation and loneliness as we age.

“We also aim to promote our project as a model of best practice with other organisations in Ireland who might benefit from our approach and training materials.”

The project is funded through Erasmus+, so all training content is available free of charge and without license.

“We feel that at a time like this with the war in Ukraine especially, projects like this help to showcase European values and solidarity,” she says.